Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Marlon Brando is part of a team kidnapping a woman. Directed by Hubert Cornfield.

Maybe not a masterpiece, but an effective little thriller - slow and filled with tension. Claustrophobic as well since a lot of the story takes place within a beach house. The rain, heavy clouds and sounds of the waves in the background add to the mood. Best of all, the story is unpredictable, and almost a bit coenesque towards the end, partly because of the kidnappers' unnecessarily complicated plans for picking up the ransom. Brando apparently didn't get along with the director, but is very good in his part. Also, what was the first film to put a camera under the plane for the shot of the plane landing?

Monday, September 23, 2013

Robert Mitchum is Philip Marlowe. Also starring Charlotte Rampling, Harry Dean Stanton and in a small part a young Sylvester Stallone, directed by Dick Richards.

Mitchum is ten years too old to play the part, but an older, more tired Marlowe fits the character. Rampling was born to play a femme fatale. One problem with filming Raymond Chandler is that you lose the language. They keep the voiceover, but what works as written often sounds too clever when spoken. The timeperiod, 1941, is beautifully recreated, but visually it's not the most exciting film ever made - it needs a bit more style. Polanski's Chinatown and Altman's The Long Goodbye, that came out around the same time, work better as movies.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Stopped by Gibert Joseph on the way down as well, checking out their used dvds. Got:Farewell, My Lovely, with Robert Mitchum
Julius Cesar, with Marlon Brando
Blood from the Mummy's Tomb, with Valerie Leon. Yes, that's probably the only reason I bought it.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Used dvd's:
The Night of the Following Day, with Marlon Brando
The Stalking Moon, with Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint
The Black Windmill, with Michael Caine
Scorpio, with Burt Lancaster and Alain Delon

Book:
L'Île Noire by Hergé, a facsimile of the original black and white version

I will have an exhibition at Grafill in Oslo, opening September 12, 6 PM: http://www.grafill.no/kalender/jason-utstilling-i-r21 There will be pages from both Lost Cat and Pop!, and I also did some new paintings, like this one of Bukowski. Then there will be a signing at Tronsmo bookstore September 14, 2 PM.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Monday, September 2, 2013

The Young Lions
World War II. Marlon Brando is a nazi, Montgomery Clift is a Jew and Dean Martin is... well, pretty much Dean Martin. Directed by Edward Dmytryk. One problem with old films is that the dialogues often sound artificial. This is one of those movies. There's a constant distance to the characters - they never seem believable as people. The war scenes lack credibility as well, despite the camera shaking every time there is an explotion, and Brando as the nazi officer comes off as impossibly naive and well intentioned.

On The Waterfront
Directed by Elia Kazan. This film has the intimacy that Young Lions lacks. The scenes between Brando and Eva Marie Saint feel true and are very touching. Ah, Eva Marie Saint! As the viewer you actually care about these people. There is nothing like the glove scene or the taxi scene in The Young Lions. Maybe that's because Kazan came from the theater, and he was looking for those moments of authenticity. The one thing they do better in films today is fake blood - in this film it looks like chocolate sauce.